Dalymount Park - Bohemians Stadium Guide

Dalymount Park was built at the turn of the 20th century in 1901, opening on the 7th September with a game against the home side, Bohemians, and visitors Shelbourne F.C. Constructed on a patch of common land known as Pisser Dignam’s Field which was used to grow vegetables, the ground initially consisted of very primitive facilities such as a roped barrier to contain spectators and a makeshift tent serving as the dressing room for players.

With the erection of wooden stands by 1903 Dalymount was beginning to establish its reputation as one of the best football stadiums in Ireland and in 1903 it was chosen to host the Irish Cup Final and a year later chosen to host the International match between Ireland and their cousins on the British Isles, Scotland. Spearheaded by the hosting of such prestigious matches the stands were increased in size and by 1925/1926 season over £17,000 had been spent upgrading the facilities, with advice sought from famous football architect Archibald Leitch.

After World War 2 Dalyer reached its peak in popularity with the stadium regularly attracting crowds of 4,000 and more for the biggest matches including Ireland against England and Shamrock Rovers against Manchester United both in 1957 as well as the inaugural floodlight match in 1962 held against Arsenal who provided the lighting system from their Highbury Stadium.

By the 1980s many began to question Dalymount Park’s suitability to host football matches with serious concerns raised when 40,000 fans crammed into the park in a 1985 match against then World Champions Italy, narrowly avoiding a serious crush of fans due to fans being able to spill out onto the sidelines. The capacity was immediately halved to around 20,000 and after extensive redevelopment in 1999 the capacity was once again halved to its current capacity of around 10,000.

View of Dalymount Park

Dalymount Park is comprised of four stands: North, East, South and West.

Click the thumbnails above to enlarge an image of each stand and to read a more detailed description of each part of the Stadium.

Away fans are accommodated within the Jodi Stand by default, however for the more high-profile matches against larger opposition the travelling supporters are relocated to the larger St Peters School End.

Within the Jodi Stand there are three bars which welcome punters on matchdays, with the middle of the three usually designated solely for the use of travelling supporters.

Less than five minutes outside the ground there is the John Doyles and The Hut Mohans pubs which both have welcoming exteriors and a decent selection of ale on tap. The choice nearby to Dally does of course pale in comparison to what’s on offer in the Dublin City Centre, but the area of Phibsborough does more than hold its own.

At the junction between Dalymount and Phibsorough Road there is a decent congregation of food options including the likes of Tescos, Eddie Rocket’s American Diner, McDonalds, and the highly rated Woodstock Cafe which has a popular breakfast menu.

Bohemians FC have recently launched a new online store at www.shop-bohemianfc.com which is well worth checking out if you can’t make it to the stadium to purchase some merchandise.

The Bohemians currently don’t offer fans the chance to take a guided tour of the facilities at Dalymount Park, however if this changes we’ll be sure to update this section.

Dalmymount Park is situated in the Phibsorough suburb of Dublin which is located approximately 2km from the historical centre of Ireland’s capital city.

The address for satnav is as follows:

• Dalymount Park, Phibsborough, Dublin 7, Ireland.

Car Parks

There is a small club run car park located where one half of the old northern terrace used to be. This is accessible from St Peter’s Road, costs a few euros and is used during the week by commuters. A back up option is the car park at Phibsborough Shopping Centre which runs adjacent to the ground, however be warned that places fill up quickly on match day so get there early.

The closest train station is Drumcondra at 1.6km away with the resulting journey by foot likely to take you around 20 minutes. Also the nearest station to Croke Park, it is served by a number of commuter services throughout the week, and takes well under five minutes to get to from Dublin Connolly station.

The closest place to stay when watching the Bohemians is Charleville Lodge Hotel which is located on the nearby North Circular Road however as you have the centre of Dublin on your door stop you might as well make the most of it by booking something closer to the River Liffey. Here there are options to suit all budgets including recognisable names such as JuHrys Inn, Hilton and Maldron Hotels.